Thursday, March 9, 2017

Steve Morrison

The new BBC Board non-executive for Scotland is Steve Morrison, born in Glasgow in 1947. His father Michael ran a kosher deli in the city's south side. He studied politics at Edinburgh University, campaigned for free contraceptives for students, acquired the nickname Stevie Le Rouge, stood for Rector, and got beaten by Kenneth Allsop. He was described by his university tutor as "A man of many talents, none of them hidden". He left for a course at the National Film School.

His first media job was with Radio Scotland, but in 1974, with help of footage of the occupation of Centre Point by Shelter supporters, he got a job with Granada's World In Action. He left Granada 28 years later, having risen to Chief Executive. He was, in part, carrying the can for a dip in ratings as Director of Programmes in London, and a fall-guy for the failure of ITV Digital, the pay-tv service that paid a fortune for Nationwide Football League rights - and collapsed within a year. Total losses were estimated at £1.3bn.

In 2004 he rose again, with private equity backing, to form All3Media, which grew into the UK's biggest indie. Half was sold off in 2006, and in 2014 he stepped down from the board with a full sale to Discovery and Liberty Global. He's now back at Edinburgh University, as Rector.